With injuries to Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, and Jacboy Ellisbury the Red Sox missed out on the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006. Although the Sox lost catcher Victor Martinez and third baseman Adrian Beltre to free agency, they acquired slugger Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and signed Carl Crawford to a 7-year deal worth 142 million dollars. Gonzalez, who batted nearly .300, hit 31 home runs, and had over 100 RBI's last season will greatly help the middle of the Sox's lineup. Gonzalez said, "I'll be in there every day, no matter what. It's going to take a lot to get me out of the game." The ability of Crawford to always get on base and cause havoc on the base paths will definitely help a Sox's lineup who already scored the second most runs in baseball last season. Rocco Baldelli, who was a former teammate of Crawford said, "There's nobody out there that's going to give himself a better chance to succeed than Carl is... They're going to get one of the best defensive left fielders that I've ever seen in baseball. They're going to get a guy who is an exciting player, probably as exciting a player as there is. He's going to be active and he's going to make things exciting. People are going to appreciate everything he does."
Projected starting lineup:
1. Jacoby Ellisbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Carl Crawford, LF
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
6. David Ortiz, DH
7. J.D. Drew, RF
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
9. Marco Scutaro, SS
They key for the Red Sox will be the pitching of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Last off-season the Sox signed Lackey to a five-year deal worth 82.5 million dollars but Lackey had a very disappointing season. He only won 14 games and had his highest ERA at 4.40 since 2004. Lackey said, "There's a lot of room for improvement." Red Sox manger Terry Francona is confident that Lackey will return to his top form. "He's going to give you the 200 innings, and every time he pitches you're going to have a chance to win, regardless of who he matches up against. He's worked hard to get in real good shape, and I think it's going to show. I think across the board his numbers will be a little bit (better) this year." Last season Josh Beckett only pitched 21 games due to a lower back strain. He only won 6 games and had a 5.78 ERA, the highest of his career. Beckett is confident coming into this season though. He said, “I feel like the mechanical adjustments I made have really gone a long way.’’ Lastly, Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled mightily last season with a series of injuries including a stiff lower back and a shoulder problem. Matsuzaka is hoping he will have another season like 2008 when he went 18-3 and finished in the top 4 of the American League Cy Young. Terry Francona isn't concerned by Matsuzaka's disappointing pitching performance last season, as he said, "I think he's in great shape. I think his shoulder's strong. The ball's coming out [strong]."If Lackey, Beckett, and Matsuzaka don't all have repeat performances of last season, the Sox look like the team to beat in the American League.
Projected starting rotation:
1. Jon Lester
2. John Lackey
3. Clay Buchholz
4. Josh Beckett
5. Daisuke Matsuzaka
Projected closer:
Jonathan Papelbon
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